8431: Fred Korematsu—A Hero And His Holiday.

From The Los Angeles Times…

A civil rights hero gets his day

Fred Korematsu, a young man who refused to be hauled away during World War II because of his heritage, took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, six years after his death, a statewide holiday honors his courage.

By Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Hayward, Calif.

Twenty-nine eager fifth-grade faces stare up at Ines Trinh between recess and lunch one day last week. The children have been studying stories about perseverance in the face of pain; “Give It All You’ve Got,” the lesson’s catchy theme, is printed in big letters on a poster in Room 21.

The teacher has just read her young students at Lorenzo Manor Elementary School a book called “The Bracelet.” It’s the story of Emi, a Berkeley second-grader sent to an internment camp during World War II just because she was Japanese American. New vocabulary words: “Injustice.” “Inequality.”

And finally, “resist.” Because fictional Emi’s story is followed by the true tale of Fred Korematsu, a young man who refused to be rounded up and hauled away because of his heritage. Who was arrested. Who fought the government and lost. And finally, 40 years later, who fought the government and won.

“Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen or felt like something was not right,” Trinh asks her students. More than a dozen hands shoot up. “Now, put your hand up if you actually did something about it.”

There are knitted brows, furtive glances and a long pause. Trinh nods, sympathetic. This is, after all, a lesson on courage, on one of history’s tragic chapters, an introduction to a brand-new hero.

And, along with it, a new holiday.

Korematsu, a Medal of Freedom recipient who died in 2005, would have turned 92 on Sunday. Instead, schools throughout the state are celebrating the first Fred T. Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution. Signed into law last September by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, it is believed to be the first statewide holiday honoring an Asian American anywhere in the country. A nascent effort is underway for a federal Korematsu Day.

At the heart of this month’s celebrations is the idea of resilience, that a great country can correct its mistakes and an ordinary man can make a difference.

Or as Trinh tells her class: “I see things sometimes that are not right, but I don’t always have the courage to do something about it. When we think about heroes, people like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Fred Korematsu, these are people who actually spoke up and did something about it.”

Read the full story here.